Read and Organize this research paper please answer questions 1, 2 and 3.
***answers should be annotated bibliography
Topic: Understanding the scope of memetic warfare and apply the appropriate resources toward a solution. Primary Question:2)Definition- How do we separate memetic warfare from free speech?/ What are the desired outcomes of these memes?
3)Examples- What organizations/countries are weaponizing memes?/ Have their attempts been successful?
China-
Isis-
Russia-
Gaza-Palestine:
Effects- What are the effects of weaponized memes?
Intentional
Unintentional
Targets
Political Affiliations-
Solutions- What measures can we take to stop the proliferation of weaponized memes without infringing upon our rights?
Counter Information
Social Media Algorithms
Definition
Demographic
Memetic warfare is a delicate factor due to the fact that it can affect both intended and unintended targets. This is due to the fact that it touches on critical aspects of the society, including political factors, human rights and even cultures (Prosser, M. B. (2006). As a result, there is the possibility that a certain demographic population could be affected by memes that were not meant to be of harm to the population. For examples, memes that touch on driftnet cultures may be provocative in unintended circumstances Prosser, M. B. (2006). Memetics–A Growth Industry in US Military Operations. MARINE CORPS UNIV QUANTICO VA SCHOOL OF ADVANCED WARFIGHTING (SAW).
Examples of Places Used
Definition- What is memetic warfare? Giesea defines memetic warfare as: competition over narrative on a social media battlefield.
Express intention of memetic warfare is case by case. But overall, memetic warfare is most successful when it sways perception favorable to the aggressor. https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/b3eb9d_e9b753fb75fe45fa8e05afea81bca8ce.pdfIt denotes a non-temperate nature of information warfare that results in a psychological effect. The warfare entails the use of memes on the platforms of the social media in a manner that controls the psychological space, narratives, and dialogues. The purpose of memetic warfare is to cause disruption, denigration and to subvert the efforts of the enemy in causing similar effects (Giesea & Giesea, 2017). The effects that are caused by memetic warfare are asymmetrical. While it can be used together with other war weapons, including troops, aircraft, ships, and missiles, it can also be used independently without the involvement of any military weapons. It operates within the information battle space. The effectiveness of memes is eminent from the fact that they contain visual content that is used to effectively represent what could not be easily expressed through words.Examples/ Methods- What organizations/countries are weaponizing memes?
China-
Jeff Giesea reports that both state and nonstate actors are actively participating in the memetic warfare. He claims that China employs 20000- 50000 Internet police and an additional quarter-million trolls to help spread pro-Beijing material domestically and abroad, and to help monitor its people. This demonstrates both the scope and response to the use of memetics under an authoritarian government.
Isis-
Giesea also shows the ways that the U.S is currently losing to Isis. He cites issues such as the incredible speed at which their propaganda travels, as well as their recruitment techniques. But, he notes that this is not due to amazing capabilities, but instead a sense of free reign in this space. In fact, Ambassador Alberto Fernandez, former head of the U.S. State Departments Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC), stated: Its not that ISIS is so great but, It is that the response to ISIS is both limited and weak.
https://www.stratcomcoe.org/academic-journal-defence-strategic-communications-vol1
Russia-
In Erin Rosenbachs statement before the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence claimed that As early as 2014and possibly beforePresident Putin authorized a widespread campaign with the strategic goal of undermining trust in democracy and inciting political and social discord.
https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/defending-digital-democracy-four-corners-election-security
Kozachenko, Ivan. Bad News for Putin as Support for War Flags beyond Russia’s ‘Troll Farms. Working Papers of the Communities & Culture Network+, 2015,
This article written by Ivan Kozachenko, University of Aberdeen, exposes how Putins tactical strategies of using troll farms to influence have backfired by allowing its enemy to know what they are preparing. In this case, it alerted Ukraine that Russia was preparing for war against them.
http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/114805/1/Bad_news_for_Putin_as_support_for_war_flags_beyond_Russias_troll_farms.pdf.The use of memetic warfare has been embraced by different organizations and countries. Russia, through president Putin, has been keen on the use of memetic warfare with the intention of undercutting political processes in Europe. The use of memetic warfare by Russia has involved different countries Among the places towards which Russia has directed memetic warfare include Germany. Where it has attempted to undermine the political processes. They have done this in combination with the issue of refugees that are currently facing Germany. This has led to the imposition of sanctions on Russia, a process that is not only viewed as a punishment, rather also a test regarding if they will be in the position of building on an existing problem and create a momentum in the advent that there is a political change in Germany (Kozachenko, 2015). Kozachenko, I. (2015) Bad news for Putin as support for war flags beyond Russia’s ‘troll farms’.
Gaza-Palestine:
Rodley, Chris. FCJ-200 When Memes Go to War: Viral Propaganda in the 2014 Gaza-Israel Conflict. Fibreculture Journal, 2016.
This article shows how Palestine used memetic warfare to move public opinion to their side by starting a hashtag battle via Twitter. Hashtags such as #HamasUnderAttack and #HamasWarCrime along with explicit photos of dead children on streets were used to form Israeli hate.
Effects- How does memetic warfare affect targets?IntentionalThe Center for Naval Analyses has divided tactics of memetic warfare into three categories: to infect, to inoculate, and to treat. Using these divisions, we could possibly understand how a memetic engagement unfolds on social media and more importantly, trace it back to the original meme by following simple cause to effect. On its own, its a rudimentary system, but its a start as to how we should be analyzing these memes and hopefully understand how best to counter them with an evolved strategy rather than a simple tactical meme.
https://www.cna.org/cna_files/pdf/DRM-2018-U-017433-Final.pdfProssers Military Report highlights what a meme is defined as, and how certain military operations will lead to the production and distribution of memes whether it be intentional or unintentional, and how the U.S. Army can analyze memes to use them as a tool in warfare. The author discusses memes and their legitimacy, as well as the clinical approach to dealing with memes where they are seen as a disease that can be spread, and how the United States can detect and identify these memes using relevant technology. The author also uses several citations from other journals to further indulge in the study. https://www.democracyendowment.eu/we-support/institute-of-post-information-society/what-is-memetic-warfare-and-how-it-threats-democratic-values/
UnintentionalTargets
Political Affiliations-
Leo G. Stewart, Ahmer Arif, and Kate Starbird find that there are two distinct clusters of trolls one left leaning and the other right-leaning. Interestingly they find that despite high retweet percentiles for both groups there is no overlap between the two. This indicates that these memes solidify concepts such as filter bubbles in which Americans only view information that aligns with their perception. From this, we can infer that the IRA intends to further entrench political divisions.They also noted that while nearly 90 percent of right-leaning troll accounts contained some form of pro-Trump reference, the left-leaning accounts focused more intensely on domestic issues such as Gun Violence or the #BlackLivesMatter Movement.
https://faculty.washington.edu/kstarbi/examining-trolls-polarization.pdfSolutions- What measures can we take to stop the proliferation of weaponized memes without infringing upon our rights?Counter Information
Jeff Giesea describes an incident in 2015 in which a photo of the U.S Ambassador conducting a press conference at an opposition rally was released by the IRA. However, this image had been doctored the Embassy cleverly revealed the true photo through twitter. By utilizing the power of the memetic landscape the Embassy was able to stop this attack effectively.
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/b3eb9d_e9b753fb75fe45fa8e05afea81bca8ce.pdfSocial Media Algorithms
Eric Rosenbach, director of the Defending Digital Democracy Project recognizes the rights to free speech in a democracy like our own. However, he states it is the responsibility of social media giants to help curb the effects of memetic warfare. He recommends that they, alter their algorithms so theyre more difficult for Russian trolls and bots to take advantage of. He also that it is necessary to involve more human activity in the flagging process to reduce the proliferation of both accounts.
https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/defending-digital-democracy-four-corners-election-security
References
Giesea, J., & Giesea, J. (2017). It’s Time to Embrace Memetic Warfare. Vol 1, 5, Spring 2017.
Working Papers of the Communities & Culture Network+, 6. ISSN 2052-7268
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